“I easily completed the G.E.D. requirements before moving forward to learn a vocational trade. Now I could hang out in the auto body shop with my homeboy Li’l Man from 107th Street Hoover Crips.

Getting my diploma and learning a trade was just a formality. Felony convictions on our records meant that the possibility of getting a job after release was slim-to-none. Who would take a chance on a criminal?

My real education came from my peers, dudes from every walk of life. Some were ghetto superstars like Big Diamond and Monster Kody from the Eight-Trey Gangsters; Fats from…